Upside Down Sea Jelly
Cassiopea xamachana
Upside-down jellyfish can grow up to 41 centimeters (16 inches) in diameter and are yellow-brown in color. Unlike other sea jellies, these jellies spend their life upside down and use primarily suspension feeds from nutrients and zooplankton in the water column. It also obtains food from its symbiotic partner, zooxanthellae, that creates food through the process of photosynthesis.
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SPECIES IN DETAIL
Upside Down Sea Jelly
Cassiopea xamachana
CONSERVATION STATUS:
CLIMATE CHANGE:
Geographic Distribution
These sea jellies can be found in the Indo-Pacific region, the Caribbean, and have been introduced in southern Florida and Hawaii.
Habitat
Upside-down sea jellies are found in coastal regions around the world. Shallow mangrove swamps, mudflats, canals, and turtle grass flats in Florida, the Caribbean, and Micronesia are home to these amazing animals.
Physical Characteristics
The upside-down sea jellies reach 12—16 inches in diameter. When looking at them they appear to glow! Their coloration varies from green, gray, blue, yellow, brown, and tan. They typically lie on the sea floor with four oral arms branching toward the surface. They lack a central mouth, but use a secondary mouth.
Size
They reach 12—16 inches in diameter.
Diet
Upside-down jellies are suspension feeders as they lie on the sandy bottom they catch zooplankton directly from the water. Equipped with tentacles that have specialized stinging cells (nematocysts), they use them to catch plankton. Zooxanthellae create an additional food source for the jellies via photosynthesis.
Reproduction
An adult female produces eggs and holds them until an adult male releases sperm into the water. The female then uses her oral arms and tentacles to gather sperm from the water and fertilize her eggs. After fertilization, the eggs hatch as larvae. The larvae are released into the surrounding waters and eventually, as polyps, settle on a surface. Once settled, they are able to reproduce asexually by budding and strobilation. When budded off from a polyp, the jelly enters its medusa, or swimming stage, until its final stage as it settles upside-down.
Behavior
The upside-down jelly spends most of its time on the ocean floor to camouflage itself and use the substrate for protection.
Adaptation
The sea jelly starts out as a free swimming organism. After growing 2 centimeters it moves to the bottom of the seafloor and flips upside-down.
The sea jelly can switch from asexual reproduction to sexual reproduction from generation to generation. They have adapted well to live in groups and are prepared to sting their predators.
Longevity
The length of the entire life cycle of the upside-down sea jelly is unknown. In captivity, they have been recorded to live up to four years in the medusa stage.
Conservation
Conservation for the upside-down sea jelly correlates with mangrove protection. The destruction of the mangroves, through pollution, negatively affects these habitats and the inhabitants within.
Special Notes
They can grow to the size of a pie plate!
Symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae live in the tissue of the jelly.
SPECIES IN DETAIL | Print full entry
Upside Down Sea Jelly
Cassiopea xamachana
CONSERVATION STATUS:
CLIMATE CHANGE:
These sea jellies can be found in the Indo-Pacific region, the Caribbean, and have been introduced in southern Florida and Hawaii.
Upside-down sea jellies are found in coastal regions around the world. Shallow mangrove swamps, mudflats, canals, and turtle grass flats in Florida, the Caribbean, and Micronesia are home to these amazing animals.
The upside-down sea jellies reach 12—16 inches in diameter. When looking at them they appear to glow! Their coloration varies from green, gray, blue, yellow, brown, and tan. They typically lie on the sea floor with four oral arms branching toward the surface. They lack a central mouth, but use a secondary mouth.
They reach 12—16 inches in diameter.
Upside-down jellies are suspension feeders as they lie on the sandy bottom they catch zooplankton directly from the water. Equipped with tentacles that have specialized stinging cells (nematocysts), they use them to catch plankton. Zooxanthellae create an additional food source for the jellies via photosynthesis.
An adult female produces eggs and holds them until an adult male releases sperm into the water. The female then uses her oral arms and tentacles to gather sperm from the water and fertilize her eggs. After fertilization, the eggs hatch as larvae. The larvae are released into the surrounding waters and eventually, as polyps, settle on a surface. Once settled, they are able to reproduce asexually by budding and strobilation. When budded off from a polyp, the jelly enters its medusa, or swimming stage, until its final stage as it settles upside-down.
The upside-down jelly spends most of its time on the ocean floor to camouflage itself and use the substrate for protection.
The sea jelly starts out as a free swimming organism. After growing 2 centimeters it moves to the bottom of the seafloor and flips upside-down.
The sea jelly can switch from asexual reproduction to sexual reproduction from generation to generation. They have adapted well to live in groups and are prepared to sting their predators.
The length of the entire life cycle of the upside-down sea jelly is unknown. In captivity, they have been recorded to live up to four years in the medusa stage.
Conservation for the upside-down sea jelly correlates with mangrove protection. The destruction of the mangroves, through pollution, negatively affects these habitats and the inhabitants within.
They can grow to the size of a pie plate!
Symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae live in the tissue of the jelly.